The Tamale District Court One presided over by His Worship Justice Anthony Asaah has remanded 8 persons into police custody for their alleged involvement in Thursday shooting in Bimbilla in a renewed chieftaincy dispute. The sporadic shooting led to the death of four persons on Thursday and four on Friday bringing the total number of people who lost their lives to 8 including a 7-year-old boy.
The 8 arrested include four teachers, a mason, a farmer and a registrar of Nanumba traditional council. The number of injured persons has risen from 9 to 11.
The injured are currently receiving treatment at the Tamale Teaching Hospital. When the presiding judge asked the suspects who were paraded in the witness box how they felt when they heard that innocent people had lost their lives as a result of meat, one of them responded, “we are sorry’’.
Justice Asaah who was saddened by the incident questioned: ’’ from yam to guinea fowl and now to meat, why? The suspects were charged provisionally of murder of five and to reappear on 24th July, 2015.
Prosecuting, chief Inspector K. Kyeremeh told the court that by the traditions of Bimbilla, the butchers’ associations are obliged to send portions of the animals they slaughter to the palace every day.
Chief inspector Kyeremeh said after the death of the chief, the leadership of the butchers was divided into two fronts with one loyal to the regent while the others are not.
The prosecutor said on the 8th of July, 2015, the regent of Bimbilla His Royal Highness, Nyalinboligu Naa Yakubu Andani Dasana and his elders held a meeting at his palace at Bimbilla and have resolved that Mohammed Bros, Mahamaru Bila and NanSayibu who are among the factions objecting to the payment of royalties to the chief should be banned from using the butchers’ shop.
The police added that the palace wrote a letter to them individually warning them to stay away from the facility. This did not go down well with them. Inspector Kyeremeh said the trio ignored the warning and went to the shop and a misunderstanding cropped up which later generated into fight and shooting.
The police, according to the prosecutor, retrieved an SMG rifle loaded with 16 rounds of ammunitions. The Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ebenezer Tetteh told Zaa News that the suspects’ charges were felonious and they would be processed for the higher court for proper trial to begin.
ASP Tetteh also appealed to all warring factions in Bimbilla to stop wrongly accusing the police for the recent violence and rather assist them find a lasting solution to the impasse.
Police anti-terrorism unit arrive in Bimbilla
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